


More Than A lot

by blinkinglion



Category: RWBY
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Volume 7 (RWBY)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:34:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23506933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blinkinglion/pseuds/blinkinglion
Summary: Another mission, another misstep, another mistake. But maybe some good will come out of this.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 2
Kudos: 110





	More Than A lot

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This is just an idea of what might've happened if Blake and Yang still needed to work out some other issues, and an idea of what might have happened if they'd run into a big grimm during the montage with Marrow. Enjoy!

Things had been uncomfortable, to say the least. It had been two months since the death of Adam, since their coming together, two months since everything  _ should _ have been fixed.

But they weren’t.

Nothing made this more clear than watching the uncertainty in Blake making itself apparent in every hesitant movement, every side-eye glance, the too enthusiastic laughter at unfunny jokes, the overcompensation and attempts to fix whatever it was between them that was broken. And while it wasn’t Yang that was solely responsible for the crevice that had grown between them, she certainly wasn't doing all she could to mend it. Because whenever she tried, whenever she caught Blake at a moment where she felt as though all the pain and hurt she held in her chest could be expelled and allow her to finally inhale, it got caught in her throat and burned like an age old whiskey. She always swallowed it back down, excusing her behavior with a quick “Nevermind!” or “Ah, I forgot. Don’t worry about it!”, trying to pretend like she didn’t see the flash of disappointment flicker across Blake’s face. Pretending like she didn’t feel the shift as the two of them moved even farther from each other. Pretending like she didn’t want to talk. Pretending she didn’t want to ask why she left. Pretending like she didn’t want the promise that Blake would never leave her again.

Yang had been whispering those questions to herself for weeks now, curled on her side with her head tucked under her pillow as everyone else slept. She made sure to glance upward and into the room before she retreated to her place of comfort, using the bright moonlight streaming in through their room’s window to make sure everyone was sound asleep. Well, almost everyone. She didn’t look at Blake, convincing herself that having to lean over and look at her would be too much work, not to mention invasive. As she rolled over, receding into herself, she whispered out a few of those questions that had been burning the back of her throat to ashes. At first, the idea of talking to herself had seemed strange, borderline pathetic- not having the courage to talk to someone who was asleep so close she could touch them, resorting to airing her feelings out in the presence of her pillow? What kind of a hero did that make her? In the beginning, she resisted the urge, going to sleep with the crushing pressure of unsaid words cracking her ribs and exposing her heart. But finally, eventually, she gave in, falling into a nightly routine- brush her teeth, get into her pajamas, listen to some music, then curl up and listen to her voice whisper ‘Why?’ in the dark of the dorm. Honestly, it was nice to hear herself say it. Nobody who mattered heard it, but at least it came out of her mouth. It was a step.

She had just fallen asleep when the entire team’s scrolls came to life, illuminating the room in a fluorescent white glow. Then came the bleating sound of a mission posting, alerting the group to get their gear and prepare for departure- T-Minus fifteen minutes. Ruby was awake instantly, the sound of her sitting up too fast and slamming her head into the ceiling adding to the cacophony of sounds coming from throughout the room, and Weiss’s annoyed “How many  _ times _ have we been called on missions? You don’t have to sit up like that.” And Blake..

Yang leaned over the edge of the bed, peering down at her partner. Blake was sitting cross-legged on the bed, chin resting in her palm, eyes open like she hadn’t slept at all. Yang blinked a few times, opening her mouth to say something- a joke was first on her tongue, but she felt something in her stomach pushing those red-hot words up to front and center. Blake moved before she could get them out, leaving Yang with a stuttered “Blake-” As her partner slid out past her. 

“We should probably get going, Yang.” She murmured, stretching and tilting her head, her ears falling to one side. Yang’s heart skipped a beat as she watched her, looking at her in the glow of the moonlight. Her hair, perfect in every way, was messy, the only indication that Blake had recently been as engrossed in slumber as the rest of the team. She lowered her arms to her side and studied Yang’s face carefully, an act that made her shrink back a bit from the edge of her bed, subconsciously worried that Blake would see the words she’d almost let out. “Did you sleep at all? You look like you’ve been awake for a while.” 

Yang instantly felt a grin snap across her face, hiding her emotions like a mask. “Nah, I couldn’t fall asleep.” She swung her legs off the bunk and pushed off, landing next to Blake and throwing an arm over her shoulders. “You kept me up, actually. Did you know you purr in your sleep?” Blake rolled her eyes and ducked out from under her, crossing her own arms and leaning against the bunk. 

“I’ve never purred in my life. Not that you’ve heard, anyway.”

Yang winked. “Give me twenty minutes, and I bet I will.” Harmless flirting. It meant nothing. The words were empty statements to start a conversation, ways to distract from the one Yang wanted to have.

Blake snorted, matched with Weiss’s exasperated groan. The heiress was halfway in bed and halfway out, a hand on her head as she tried to wake herself up fully. “I can’t wait until we get our  _ own rooms.  _ Sharing a dorm with you all is quite possibly the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.” Ruby made a noise of indignation, and Weiss rolled her eyes. “Okay. I would still room with you Ruby.” 

“I mean, you wouldn’t have to room with me.” Ruby countered, dropping down to the floor. “I’m more offended by the fact that you think these two being together all the time is the worst thing that’s ever happened to  _ you. _ Yang is my sister, it’s way worse for me.” 

Yang stuck her tongue out at Ruby as the four of them ducked out of the room, switching back to Blake and pulling conversation topics out of thin air as they walked. Everytime there was a brief lull in conversation and those poisonous words surged forward, Yang would laugh loudly and fling anything out into the open to shove her feelings down. Blake didn’t notice. Yang pretended she was thankful she didn’t. 

The team reached the downstairs waiting room quickly enough, stopping by the locker room to slip into their gear. Yang chattered about mission details, (“I think that we’re going to clear out another mine. Bet we’re getting split up. What do you guys think you’ll be doing? Who are we going to be paired with, do you know?”) while the rest of the team was quiet, still fighting against the lull of sleep. This didn’t bother her too much, and much less than if she had been quiet like the rest of them- silence was a breeding ground for thoughts, and the last thing she wanted right now was to try and think about things. She was quite aware of the echoing of her voice, the sound of the buzzing fluorescent lights, and the sound of shoes squeaking against the tile floor of the locker room. For a brief second, as she paused to take a breath, there was the startling urge to just scream, to let out the pent up feeling in her chest. But it faded as words, the safe ones, the easy ones, fell out of her mouth as the team left to get their assignments. 

The team was split up into their pairs, with Blake and Yang being grouped with Marrow for their mission. The mission was simple enough- clear a mine out of some Grimm, don’t get blown up by the explosive stuff, all come home to live another day. “You know, we might get home early, “ Marrow said as they boarded their transport, walking a few steps ahead of them. “You’ll have the night off if we do, so use that as an incentive to do well.” 

Yang laughed, elbowing Blake’s arm. “Hey, I’ll be fine. All we’ve got to worry about is this one.” Blake shot her a look, a soft smile ghosting across her face. Yang waggled her eyebrows, throwing a loose arm around her waist and leaning on her side. “Aw, no, I’m joking. If anything, I need her to watch out for me.” Marrow rolled his eyes, reminiscent of Weiss’s response. Again, harmless flirting. Blake’s blush and look off to the side was nothing. She was easily embarrassed, of course. Blake moved Yang’s arm and took a seat, and Yang did the same, her smile fading as she turned her head to look out the window, away from anyone who could see her face, the artificial sparkle in her eyes twinkling out as she looked out on the snowy tundra.

As they flew, Yang watched Marrow from across the cabin. He was playing with a toy of some sort- a rubix cube, maybe? Marrow was definitely the most laid-back of the Ace-Ops. Yang made a noise in the back of her throat, watching Marrow’s eyes snap upwards as he shoved the cube back into his pocket, crossing his arms. “It’s, uh, a time waster. And a brain stimulant. Gotta keep the mind sharp, right?” He laughed in an embarrassed, almost defensive manner, his previous “cool mentor” status completely invalidated by his tail’s nervous wagging across the seat. Yang winked and held a finger up to her lips in response. 

When they landed, she tilted her head towards him as they left the aircraft and whispered, “You know, I used to love Rubix cubes when I was younger. Glad to see they’re back in style.” Then grinned as he scowled at her. When the group reached the mine, he was more or less apathetic as to what the girls ended up doing. He told them where to go, what to do, and told them not to die. Simple and easy. 

The mine was massive, crystalized and icy walls infused with pockets of ore making it difficult to maneuver around in the caverns without tripping. Blake, taking the lead through one of the tunnels, moved swiftly around them without any trouble, as though she had walked through this place hundreds of times before. The darkvision probably helped. Yang did not do as well, often having to catch herself from falling- which she did successfully, until a dip in the stone caught the tip of her boot and she lurched forward, her knees slamming hard into the stone floor. She swore and pulled her knees up to her chest, her aura quickly soothing the throbbing pain. She looked up, expecting to see Blake’s face hovering over her in concern, only to see the back of Blake’s head, ears twitching from side to side as Yang’s outburst echoed through the cavern.

“You know, you could check on me,” Yang grumbled, rubbing the sore spot. Despite her mutterings, she stared a bit too long at Blake still, her breath still caught in her chest as she went to exhale, watching Blake’s ears swivel. And then when Blake began to move ahead, hand put out behind her in a warning as she went, Yang felt her heart pick up. An old response to an old problem- Blake leaving her behind. Her words bubbled up like vitriol  _ again,  _ and as Yang got to feet and surged forward, she tried to ignore how quick she ran, and how shaky her hand was as she reached out to touch Blake’s shoulder. “Uh, Blake?” Her voice almost cracked in two. Yang cleared her throat, taking in a breath to try again. “Blake, what’s going on?” 

Blake half glanced at her. “I can hear something.” She murmured. “I can  _ hear _ something running around nearby, but I just don’t…” She stopped and frowned, looking back and forth through the tunnel. “Wait. You can hear that, right?”

Yang cocked her head and closed her eyes, focusing on the air around her. “Uh… I don’t..”

_ Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. _

“No, wait, yeah, I can hear it.” Yang opened her eyes and looked back and forth, squinting in the darkness to try and make out any moving shapes. The sound was loud and sounded close, but there wasn’t any sign of something in the tunnels. “That’s gotta be the Grimm, but where is it? It sounds clos-”

As Yang turned her head to the wall next to her, she remembered something her father had told her when they first started training. When you’re nervous, even the slightest of sounds can trigger a jerk, a jump, a startled reaction. But when the danger rises into your face and has you by the throat, teeth poised to sink into your flesh, all you can do is freeze. 

Mid-sentence, with words falling out of her mouth, staring into Blake’s eyes, the wall to the left of them was blown apart by a heavy, hammer like-fist. Almost like watching from underwater, Yang watched Blake’s face twist into surprise as she turned her head, then watched as her eyes widened impossibly as she tried to dodge out of the way of the massive blow- But the fist crashed into the side of Blake’s torso as she tried to twist away, knocking her completely off of her feet and into the adjacent wall with a surprised yelp. Yang, with her momentary shock-induced paralysis passed, leapt into action. She lunged towards Blake, sliding across the ground as the gauntlets expanded onto her arms, flinging shotgun shells at what she could see now was a hulking Grimm. Its jaw dragged on the floor, the arms thicker than some of the stone surrounding them, and its beady red eyes flashed as it jerked its head side to side, snarling and digging grooves into the stone with its claws.

Blake regained her breath rather quickly, scrambling to her feet. Yang breathed a sigh of relief as she watched her slight swaying quickly end as she grounded herself. But her heart fell a bit as she heard Blake’s scroll beep- its way of letting her know her partner’s aura was under fifty percent. Blake, hearing it as well, patted Yang’s shoulder. “I’m fine.” She pulled her sword from out of its sheath, getting it at the ready. “It just caught me off guard.” 

The monster snarled as it lowered itself to the ground, cold air curling out across the ground from its massive snout. The beast looked half-construct half-beast, with patches of white hair sticking out between the fused rocks. Yang steadied her breathing as she watched it, her and Blake moving in tandem as they silently moved to position themselves to attack. Silent cooperation. Fighting was the only place in their relationship where they were totally open with each other- no secrets on the battlefield. 

The monster’s eyes flickered over to Yang, just for a moment. It only needed a moment. 

The monster moved, faster than either one of the girls could have predicted. The monster made a beeline for Blake, eyes locked on what it saw as the weaker, more injured prey. Yang pivoted instantly, turning her back to the wall the monster was coming through to come at it from the side- only to be side swept by the hidden tail that came crashing after the beast, the heavy and club-like addition embedded with wooden debris and sharp rock. The tail, having only been slowed slightly by the heavy mass of the stone wall, slammed into Yang full force, sending her head over heels into the wall that Blake had just been thrown into. This time, though, Yang felt her head leave a crater in the stone, the ensuing pain ravaging her skull as her cry echoed throughout the chamber. She found herself face down on the floor, eyes watering as she struggled to get on her feet and focus past the blinding and painful shock. Her aura healed the damage quickly enough, and she grimaced as she heard an unfortunately familiar beep from her own scroll.

Shaking off her dazed state, Yang was able to come back to full consciousness just to see Blake leap over the massive tail and get undercut by the beast’s paw, sending her flying upwards into the ceiling with a sickening cracking noise. Yang shouted and jumped forward, firing herself forward with her gauntlets and pushing off the adjacent wall with her foot to finally get close enough to start whaling on the Grimm. She wrapped her legs around its torso, perched atop its back in the perfect position, and began pummelinf down on its hardy exterior, letting out battle cry after battle cry to mix with the Grimm’s shrieking protests. 

She managed to get ten or eleven solid punches in, the flashes from her gauntlets illuminating the chamber brightly as she did, allowing her to start punching Grimm in its more sensitive spots as they became apparent to her, awarding her with its thrashing and wailing. Then, as she attempted to lay down another heavy blow, the monster let out a shrill screech, spinning itself around and slamming its back into the fully intact wall, sandwiching Yang in between it and the immovable stone at full force. Yang felt something in her shoulder crack as she groaned and tried to brace her feet against its body to shove off, letting out another pained grunt as she fought to keep it from pulverizing her, her battle-field high replaced with the dull pain of her body becoming contorted by the heavy weight. Her scroll, sounding like a distant memory, beeped in warning. 

She heard Blake scream something -her name, maybe?- , and then the sounds of rapid fire gun shots from behind the monster. The monster let out another howl, and Yang could feel the vibrations as the beast’s tail whipped out and attempted to strike at Blake. By the sounds of frustration coming from the Grimm, she assumed it wasn’t working. Yang would have laughed, but the crushing(almost, familiar) feeling of this massive Grimm trying to splatter her against the wall made it difficult. The grimm, fed up with the difficulty of keeping Yang pinned while trying to hit Blake, pushed back once more for emphasis before committing to an explosive surge forward, its sights now trained back on Blake as it rushed forward. 

Yang fell to the ground with a pained gasp, feeling her cracked ribs slowly knit themselves together. If she had to guess, she’d say her aura was one or two hits away from being depleted. “Blake! Are you okay?” Yang called, dragging herself to her feet and staggering forward as she looked through the tunnel. Yang’s head was swimming at this point, with every lurching step harder to take than the last. The monster was obviously trying to get at something nearby, slamming its skull into the walls of the mineshaft, every angry bellow paired with the loud slam of its head into stone. Yang flinched at each one, trying to focus and ground herself enough to rush back into the battle. “Blake, I can’t see you! Where are you?”

Turns out, she didn’t need Blake to respond. The monster made contact with something in the tunnel, letting out a victorious howl as it did so- and Yang was knocked backwards by Blake’s entire form being thrown into her, barely having enough time to tighten her hold on her partner as the blow sent her and Blake both skidding across the ground, rolling over one another, before eventually the two of them slid to a halt twenty feet further from where they had just been, panting and gasping as they individually tried to stop their worlds from spinning.

Yang let out a pained groan as she sat up, scrambling backward across the ground with her arm still wrapped around Blake, dragging her partner along with her. She heard their scroll beep a few more times, but she didn’t need it to know their auras were absolutely done for. Yang stumbled and stood up, pulling Blake up by her arm. “We need to go,” She gasped out, lurching backwards on her feet. “I can’t, I don't have enough-” Again, she was interrupted by the beast, coming forward to finish the job. Despite being nearly blind in the dark, it wasn’t hard to make out the bumbling, lurching beast’s form as it came forward. There were obviously large gashes in its forehead and body, worn down from the continued assault on its form by the pair. Not that it mattered much right now, though. The beast could absolutely tear them apart, even with its wounds. She spit out a mouthful of blood and squeezed Blake’s arm. When Blake didn’t respond, she felt that same stuttering in her chest as she looked down at her.

Blake, who clearly was on her last leg, used Yang’s arm as leverage to stand up. Yang looked down and stifled a shocked gasp at the sight of her foot- it was dark, but it wasn’t too dark to see that it was absolutely broken. Blake saw her looking, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You’re way too weak to carry me,” She grit out. “Just- run and go get Marrow. I’ll be fine.” 

Yang laughed dryly. She turned her head to look at the beast, then back at Blake. She gently unwrapped Blake’s arm from around her shoulders, pushing her to sit down. “You know what? I think I’ve got this.” Every word was gasped out, and with every word she said, Yang could taste exorbitant amounts of blood. “Just- just sit tight for a second.” 

  
The beast had stopped its charge, watching the two girls with fierce intensity, waiting for any sign of hesitation or feaer in the two. Yang walked forward, putting her hands on her hips. The beast huffed at the sight of her, shoulders hunching and paws scraping across the ground like it was gearing to charge. Which was exactly what Yang wanted.

As the beast let out its final, world-shattering roar, it surged forward with its head down and smoke curling out of its nostrils. A shaky grin spread across Yang’s face. 

A few moments later, as the Grimm began to fade away, having been obliterated by a punch it had never seen coming, it would wonder how it happened just  _ so fast.  _

As the beast charged and Yang pulled her gauntlets out, it looked like the beast was going to win. From its point of view, all it could see was this golden haired piece of prey that was barely standing. Then it saw this weak, pathetic being turn and grin to the one behind it. The one it had nearly gotten, but managed to crawl away. So when the prey that it had its sights focused on turned back, when it’s hair began to glow, and when it let out a roar akin to its own...

It was a bit startling.

So when Yang lunged forward with a signature right hook, the beast was caught off guard- and when the gauntlet blasted the majority of its face apart, it could barely respond. With no mouth to respond with, and cognitive ability fading fast, it let out a low groan as it rolled over and faded into the abyss. How could it have gone  _ so wrong?  _

Yang staggered back with a breathless laugh, collapsing onto her knees. She felt a soft hand on her shoulder and turned, looking at Blake’s horrified face. “Where- ha, where was that concern when I bruised my shin?” She wheezed, trying to lighten the mood.

Blake opened her mouth to say something, before closing it and dragging Yang in for a tight hug. “You- Gods, you-” She pulled away, using the base of her palm to stop the tears from spilling out. “You keep  _ doing _ this.” 

Yang blinked, taken aback. “Wait, what? Doing what?”

“You were scared, Yang. You were so scared, you had to be, and you didn’t.. You didn’t even.. You  _ smiled.”  _

Yang’s eyebrows furrowed as her smile disappeared. “Well, yeah. That’s my thing. I’m not afraid of anything, Blake.”

Blake stared at her silently for a moment. The invasive look Blake gave her made Yang look down and away, feeling those red hot words burn in the back of her mouth again.  _ Why did you leave me? Are you going to stay? Please don’t leave me.  _

“Yang. Please talk to me.” And Blake, in an almost uncharacteristic show of affection, placed a hand on the side of Yang’s face. “I can see it in your eyes, okay? I’m your  _ partner.  _ You can’t trick me with those smiles.”

Somewhere in the distance, someone was yelling their names. Yang swallowed. 

“Yang.” Blake pleaded, eyes wide. “Can you just… Talk to me?”

So she did.

Yang let all of the words come out of her mouth in a jumbled spew of anger, hurt, loneliness, and relief, talked until Marrow came sprinting down the slope of the tunnel, and talked as they lay together on the floor of their ship half-conscious, talked as they were carted off to the med-bay, talked as they lay in the darkness, separated by inches in their respective hospital beds.

“And I just..” Yang’s voice had become hoarse and raw. “I just don’t want you to leave me again. I know what you said, I just… You mean… So much to me.” 

Blake was silent for a moment. Yang squeezed her eyes together, feeling more scared than she ever had in her life. She was the most vulnerable she’d ever been, she had dropped all of her walls and opened the gates, and she was so scared. So when she felt Blake’s weight indent in the bed, and felt a nose press into her shoulder, she froze.

“Yang.” The words were a murmur across her skin, leaving a trace like a feather over it. “I’m not going to leave you.”

Another pause. Then another.

“Blake?” 

“Yeah?”

“I love you. A lot.” 

Silence. Neverending silence.

But then a sigh, the feeling of a warm body against hers, and the feeling of a heart beating next to hers laid the ground work for the answer.

“I love you too. More than a lot.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
